Fee increase - observations

[PACAN]

From going through various forums and blog:

The Don't worry be happy..."we have a benefactor who is paying the 2000 increase.....nothing to see here"

The ones getting a council bail out or assistance vs the crickets

The OMG...we are out of business. thanks BSA

The WTH...how incompetent is national announcing this just before recharters.  No Transparency with the risk analysis.  A lot of folks concurring with this one.

The look down the nosers ...It's only $5 a month or two cups of coffee, suck it up not knowing the individual financial situation of others or volunteering to pay it for them.

The "it's a bargain" compared to sports ..of course never actually calculating the total annual cost of scouting and comparing apples to oranges.

 

Probably a few others.

 

[Cubmaster Pete]

23 minutes ago, PACAN said:

 

The OMG...we are out of business. thanks BSA

The WTH...how incompetent is national announcing this just before recharters.  No Transparency with the risk analysis.  A lot of folks concurring with this one.

I would say I am in these 2 camps.... I will know more after my parents meeting Sunday.

I can't say it's been a fun week...

[Liz]

I'm in the "It is what it is" camp. I recognize this could be a real challenge for some families. But I also don't expect Scouting to be a free handout. My child needs to fundraise her way through it. BSA has to stay in business somehow. 

In leaner times in my life, I'd pay the fee and it might mean my child didn't get to attend summer camp next year. 

[ParkMan]

1 hour ago, PACAN said:

From going through various forums and blog:

The Don't worry be happy..."we have a benefactor who is paying the 2000 increase.....nothing to see here"

The ones getting a council bail out or assistance vs the crickets

The OMG...we are out of business. thanks BSA

The WTH...how incompetent is national announcing this just before recharters.  No Transparency with the risk analysis.  A lot of folks concurring with this one.

The look down the nosers ...It's only $5 a month or two cups of coffee, suck it up not knowing the individual financial situation of others or volunteering to pay it for them.

The "it's a bargain" compared to sports ..of course never actually calculating the total annual cost of scouting and comparing apples to oranges.

 

Probably a few others.

 

A part of me feels like I should be insulted here.  I don't see why this list characterizes anyone who isn't appalled by the increase so negatively.  I guess by your terms, I'm in the "The look down the nosers ...It's only $5 a month or two cups of coffee, suck it up not knowing the individual financial situation of others or volunteering to pay it for them."

As a Cubmaster, Pack Committee Chair, and Troop Committee Chair, I'd literally spend an hour every time it was discussed whether it was too much of a hardship to raise our annual dues by $5.  I'm remarkably aware that many families struggle to pay for lots of things.  We'd tighten the belt at every turn in Scouting.  

I don't want to pay more for things than I have to, but I recognize that the BSA needs the money to pay for the insurance.  I'm sure if they could reduce it they would.  So, what am I to do?  Ranting about it isn't going to amount to a hill of beans.  All it really does it get everyone riled up about this.  This whole thing often feels a lot like:

 

Yesterday I paid $54 to fill up my gas tank.  The yearbook my daughter just bought at her high school cost $70.  I spent $7 on lunch at the drive through today. 

So, yeah - I find it hard to declare in increase of $2.25 a month the end of the world.

[PACAN]

@ParkMan These are all things that have been said on the forums/blogs.   Instead of quoting those folks Individually I just wanted to show the wide range of reactions to the fee increase. Clearly the WTH one has the most hits.

[ParkMan]

Oh.  Ok.

I misunderstood what you were trying to do here.  Seemed like you were making a jab at the increase by showing only negative comments or those who disparaged anyone who wasn't negative.  Glad I misinterpreted.

[TAHAWK]

My troop as a Scout was founded in 1908 in Santa Ana, California.  BSA showed up after the troop had been in operation eighteen years and had, at least on paper, 61 members.  They  "figured" they were the forty-third Peace Scout troop in California when formed in 1908 from two preexisting patrols. 

I Scouted twenty-five years with a Cleveland-area troop formed in 1908.  There were ninety-nine troops in the area when BSA appeared in 1912 (five claiming to be the first), not counting independent patrols, that could register as such for the next fifty years.   

We owe BSA for many thing, but especially giving Bill Hillcourt the opportunity to become the most influential person in Scouting, but BSA, who hailed him as such, has forgotten most of his lessons about the centrality of the Patrol Method and the Outdoor Program.  Program builds and sustains membership, which, in turn, relieves financial problems, but program is seldom the focus of BSA, especially patrol program.  

I have met some very fine Scouters who were employees, friends for decades even when they escaped this area for Scouting jobs elsewhere.  I assume that all "professionals" I deal with mean well and should be treated with respect, even when they are not respectful to some volunteers and are focused on whether I have "done my duty to Scouting in my estate planning."  Areas like NE Ohio are a tough stage on which to perform.  I have seen membership, with a few trivial exceptions in the late 80s, fall in this area for twenty-eight years.  History, eventually, will reach a consensus on the whys and wherefores.  I do wish we would try, if only experimentally,  what worked before it was abandoned as obsolete when membership was at historic highs, only to see steady declines since  - Scouting. 

There is hope.  We have a few unusual units that have clung to the old ways.  One took 67 Scouts to their own summer camp in PA a couple of years ago.  The next year they bicycled around Lake Erie [clockwise] except for being ferried through Detroit for safety reasons (Asleep at 8:00PM the day I met up with them  back in Ohio to observe for District and take pictures).  Fifty-nine Scouts finished the trip, and the leaders (Scouts) decided afterwards that they had underestimated the effort required.  They had six patrols at their last COH that I attended this Spring, plus troop staff.  They tent camp every month as a troop but with separate patrol sites, plus patrol campouts and hikes.  I regret that at my age a 90-mile round trip in the dark every week is not practicable, especially in Winter, or I would sign up.  In this work, they receive no recognition from Council, Area, Region, or National.  They do not lead in percentage "advancing," but I have counseled some on Wilderness Survival, and they are remarkably ready. Philmont next year!  Isle Royal the next - if First Class and Swimming MB. I am jealous.  Perfect? No.  But they know where they are trying to go.  Yogi would be impressed: ""You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there."

[5thGenTexan]

@PACAN you forgot the suggestion to just get in gear and sell more popcorn to make up the difference.

[thrifty]

1 hour ago, ParkMan said:

The yearbook my daughter just bought at her high school cost $70. 

WTH $70 for a yearbook?  My wife is asleep or I'd be asking her right now what she paid for my son's.  First thing tomorrow, I'm going to find out.  I cant believe for a moment that she would pay anywhere near that amount and if she did, it wont happen again.  What could possibly make a year book cost that much?

[desertrat77]

Seventy bucks is about what my daughter's yearbooks cost (each).  Many students don't get them due to the cost. 

[ParkMan]

That was pretty much my reaction was at first too.  What???  $70 for a yearbook?

I was in high school in the late 80's.  Now I think I understand why my dad said:  "What??? $30 for a yearbook?"

[scoutldr]

My 8 yo Granddaughter goes to dance class for "only one hour a week".  I just wrote the check for November...$126 PER MONTH.  Her recital costumes will be over $100 each...and she will need two.  But it's her passion, and she doesn't do any other extracurriculars.  Me paying this allows her mom to have the latest $1000 iPhone, so I guess it's worth it.

[Eagle1993]

The issue is what services does National provide that we are paying to receive.  National does not provide facilities for meetings, any of the District or Council paid staff, most camps any scout goes to, etc.   National provides the program outline (actual program materials comes with extra cost), insurance (but not the insurance that councils provide for injuries at outings), IT systems, and  administrative overhead.   The actual program is put on by units, districts and councils.  
The correct comparison is GSUSA, Trail Life, 4H, etc. who’s National fees are much less than BSA.  My disappointment is not necessarily the increase, but the lack of any transparency on what they did to ensure their financial house gets back in order.  

[MattR]

2 hours ago, PACAN said:

@ParkMan These are all things that have been said on the forums/blogs.   Instead of quoting those folks Individually I just wanted to show the wide range of reactions to the fee increase. Clearly the WTH one has the most hits.

True, but everyone here is rather passionate about scouting. Everyone seems to vent in their own way. One group not mentioned are those that didn't reply. It could be they don't care, or maybe they're wise enough to not worry about what they can't control.

[qwazse]

Last increase, my kids all concluded to forgo yearbooks.